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Use of in vitro-generated, stem cell-derived islets to cure type 1 diabetes: how close are we?
A B Peck1, J G Cornelius, M Chaudhari
1Department of Pathology, Immunology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Florida College of Medicine, Gainesville, Florida 32610, USA. peck@pathology.ufl.edu
Recent successes in treating type 1 diabetic patients with islet transplantation portends a future need for an increase in available islets. Ductal structures of the adult pancreas contain multipotent stem cells that, under the proper in vitro conditions, can both self-renew and differentiate into functional islets of Langerhans. In vitro-generated islets exhibit temporal changes in mRNA transcripts for islet-associated markers as well as regulated insulin responses following glucose challenge. When implanted into diabetic mice, in vitro-generated islets induce neovascularization and reverse insulin-dependent diabetes. The possibility of growing functional endocrine pancreas from stem cells provides new opportunities to produce large numbers of islets, even autologous islets, for use as implants.
Recent successes in treating type 1 diabetic patients with islet transplantation portends a future need for an increase in available islets. Ductal structures of the adult pancreas contain multipotent stem cells that, under the proper in vitro conditions, can both self-renew and differentiate into functional islets of Langerhans. In vitro-generated islets exhibit temporal changes in mRNA transcripts for islet-associated markers as well as regulated insulin responses following glucose challenge. When implanted into diabetic mice, in vitro-generated islets induce neovascularization and reverse insulin-dependent diabetes. The possibility of growing functional endocrine pancreas from stem cells provides new opportunities to produce large numbers of islets, even autologous islets, for use as implants.
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